Starting his roots in theater, Paolo acted in Anton Juan’s “Drunk enness of Noah” and Tony Mabesa’s “The Women” as well as directing Arthur Miller’s “Memory of Two Mondays” before joining Mowelfund’s Animation workshop in 1996 and Documentary Workshop in 2000.
His first documentary, “Palugid” (Margin) won the Best Short Film plum in the 24th Gawad Urian Awards, Prize for Documentary at the 2000 Gawad CCP Para sa Alternatibong Pelikula at Video, the Audience Award at the eKsperimento Film Festival 2001 and the 1st runner up in the 2001 Kodak In ternational Short Film Competition and has been screened / competed in several international competitions. He headed Mowelfund Film Institute’s Special Projects Division from 2000-2005 and taught Line Production and Assistant Directorship in the institute’s educational programs.
Together with Ellen Ramos, he directed the highly-acclaimed Philippine digital film “ILUSYON” which became the first mini-dv and R-18 film to be Rated A by the Cinema Evaluation Board, ushering an era of industry acceptance for digital films in the Philippines. The film also had its World Premiere as an Official Selection in Pus an Internat ional Film Festival 2006 where it was awarded a prestigious “CJ Selections” spot where a Korean media giant buys 5 titles from the international program for Korean theatrical and DVD distribution, making it the first Filipino film to do so. Their second film is “SELDA” (The Dying Inmate) was nominated in all categories and won two Best Actor awards for Sid Lucero and Emilio Garcia in 2008 Thessaloniki Film Festival in Greece. They are the final stage in the post-production of their third film "WALANG HANGGANG PAALAM"
He is a founding and currently a board member of The Independent Filmmaker’s Cooperative (IFC), a collective of independent filmmakers and is currently the programmer for the country’s only art-house cinema, IndieSine. In 2008, he ventures into commercial being the latest additional to Fimex in-hous e directors.
Filmography
“Paalam” (2008) – full-length / digital (writer / editor / co-director with Ellen Ramos)
“Storyline” (2008-present) – ANC Documentary (director / editor / co-creator with Patricia Evangelista)
“Teach Me To Love” by Eddie Romero (2008) – Digital Feature Length (assistant director)
“Selda” (The Dying Inmate) (2007) – full-length / digital (writer / editor / co-director with Ellen Ramos)
“Beerhouse” by Jon Red (2007) – Digital Feature Length ( associate director / associate producer)
“Lumilipad” (2007) – music video / digital
“Pain Things” (2007) – full-length / digital (actor)
“Carnivore” (2007) – full-length / digital (actor)
“Salam” (2006-07) – TV special / ABS-CBN Found ation / Knowledge Channel (actor)
“Buhay Artista” (2006) TV series / CCP Production (actor / editor)
“Ramblings From The Sea” (2006) –e xp erimental documentary / 4mins /
“Pauwi Na” – full-length (writer)
“Twinkle-Twinkle Little Star” (2006) – full-length (wr iter)
“Ramblings From The Sea” (2006) – experimental documentary (writer)
“Imahe Nasyon” segment “One Shot” (2006) – short fiction / digital (writer / director)
“Imahe Nasyon” segment “Barado” (2006) – short film (actor)
“Imahe Nasyon” segment “Speci Men” (2006) Digital Short Film (assistant director)
“Imahe Nasyon” segment “Imagining Edsa” (2006) – short / digital (editor)
“May Minamahal” (2006) – music video / digital
“Faces of Love” by Eddie Romero / Digital Feature Length / 2006
“Anak Ng Tinapa” (2005) – full-length / digital (actor)
“Ilusyon” (2005) – full-length / digital (writer / editor / co-director with Ellen Ramos)
“Salisi” (2005) – music video / digital
“Mamboboso” (2005) – documentary / digital (director / editor)
“Godspeed” (2005) short / cut-out animation
“Coup B’etat” by Jon Red (2005) fiction / digital (editor)
“Edades” by Nick Deocampo (2004) Feature Length / 35mm (line producer / associate producer)
“Palugid" (2001) – short documentary (writer / director / actor)
“Abong” (Small Home) by Koji Imaizumi (Japa nese Co-production, 2001) – feature length / 16mm (production manager)
“Rush” by George Wong (HongKong Production, 2000) – Feature Length / 35mm (line producer / associate producer)
“Pedrong Palad” by Nick Deocampo, Regal Films 1999) – Feature Length / 35mm (line producer / assitant director)
“Mother Ignacia” by Nick Deocampo (1998) – Feature Length / 35mm (assistant director / post production supervisor / musical director)
